Oct 06, 2015 11:00 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A team of scientists detailed how volcanic eruptions affect the flow of the world's major rivers in a new study.

The research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, is the first to examine the relation of the two, Xinhua News reported. Carley Iles and Gabriele Hegerl, scientists at the University of Edinburgh, conducted the study to warn against a particular method of combatting global warming.

By shooting debris into the atmosphere, the volcanoes provided a naturally occurring screen that blocks the sun and disrupts the flow of some of the world's major rivers.

"It was known that volcanic eruptions affect global rainfall," Iles told Agence France Press. "But it was previously unclear to what extent this translated into changes in river flow."

For their study, the researchers examined the water volume of major rivers like the Amazon, Nile, and Congo after a volcanic explosion, and the rivers' volume was up to 10 percent lower.

"As well as affecting river flow and rainfall, volcanic eruptions have a cooling effect on climate," Iles told AFP. "All of these impacts come about because volcanoes inject particles - sulfate aerosols - high up into the atmosphere, and these spread out and reflect sunlight back out into space.

"Our findings suggest that these kinds of geo-engineering schemes are likely to have side effects on river flow, so caution is advised."

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